Thursday, April 27, 2006

Exchange 12 ROCKS!!

I can't wait for this one coming out!! The new Microsoft Exchange Server -code name Exchange 12 is massive and very flexible. Check the followingfeatures:

Automatic Client ConfigurationToday, configuring the Outlook desktop or mobile clients prior to first useis complicated, requiring users to enter confusing technical information.Exchange 12 includes a new automatic discovery and configuration featurethat Outlook 12 and next generation mobile devices will use to configurethemselves completely, including all appropriate corporate policies. Endusers will not be required to enter Exchange server names or other technicalinformation. This capability will spare the IT staff from having to createcomplicated deployment or configuration scripts that help users set upOutlook to connect to Exchange. Additionally, mailbox moves will not requiremanual reconfiguration of clients, and if a disaster occurs, clients willautomatically connect to moved or failed-over mailboxes on differentExchange servers with no manual editing of Outlook or device connectionsettings required

Mailboxes EtceteraUsers already rely on their mailboxes as repositories for every workmessage they've ever received and even for actual deliverables. As mailboxsizes have grown to accommodate user needs, the costs associated withbackup, restore, and migration have skyrocketed. Users need larger mailboxesto handle this workload, but IT is hesitant to supply more space because ofthe time and cost associated with managing a large mailbox. As a native64-bit application (compatible with x64 servers), Exchange 12 lets anorganization keep all of its users' mail and calendar data on the serverwhere it can be reliably secured, backed up, and made available on a rangeof devices. The 64-bit performance allows Exchange to address more memory,it increases cache sizes, and it helps reduce disk I/O operations. As aresult, Exchange 12 makes more efficient use of each spindle (physical diskdrive) in existing Storage Area Network (SAN) systems while also enablinginexpensive high-capacity disk drives to be used.To address the high cost of backup associated with most messaging systems,Exchange 12 introduces continuous replication features that use log fileshipping to keep a "rolling backup" of a mailbox database either on a localdisk set or on a disk set attached to a second, clustered server. In theevent of a disaster, a replica can be brought online and attached to anyExchange 12 server in the network. These capabilities will allow manyorganizations to move from expensive nightly tape backup procedures toless-frequent tape or archival backups.

One InboxUsers aren't just worried about e-mail, of course; they have to deal withe-mail, faxes, voicemail, and documents-all of which have to be checkedconstantly. But most users don't have the level of access they need awayfrom the office. Exchange 12 will provide a new unified messaging (UM)solution that will enable end users to receive e-mail messages, faxes, andvoicemails in one Inbox (see Figure 3). Because in some cases the telephonemay be available when other clients are not, UM will support PIM access overthe phone. Users will be able to access their Inbox from any touch-tonephone using either touch-tone commands or speech recognition. And viatext-to-speech translation, users can listen to their main Inbox items(including e-mail, calendar, tasks, and contacts) read back to them. Userscan also interact with messages (reply, forward, and so on) and call otherusers when appropriate. Corporate directory access will also be supported.

Flexible Server RolesThe next release of Exchange is being designed as a distributed system offive server roles (see Figure 1). These roles-Mailbox, Hub Transport, EdgeTransport, Client Access, and Unified Messaging-allow Exchange 12 systems tobe installed with exactly the components organizations need, aidingperformance and reducing the surface area for attacks. Server roles aredeployed within the corporate network, with Active DirectoryR access, andcan also be deployed on a single server if needed. The only exception tothis is Edge Transport, which is deployed in the perimeter network with noActive Directory access.